Wednesday, June 27, 2012

YOU BELONG TO HIM!

In Song of Solomon, the Lord says of his bride: "How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!" (Song of Solomon 7:6). Three of the Hebrew words in this verse are synonymous: fair (meaning "precious"), pleasant (indicating "pleasure"), and delights.

These words describe Jesus' thoughts toward His bride as He beholds her. He looks at her and says, "How beautiful, sweet and delightful you are. You are precious to me, O love!" And in turn, the bride boasts, "I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me" (verse 10). The meaning here is, "He runs after me with delight. He chases me because I am so precious to him!"

These same thoughts are found throughout the Psalms. "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy" (Psalm 147:11). "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation" (149:4).Now, I can try to convince you of God's delight in you by telling you, "You are precious to the Lord!" Yet you may think, "Well, that's a lovely thought. How sweet."

This truth is much more than a lovely thought, however. It is the very key to your deliverance from every battle that rages in your soul. It is the secret to entering into the rest God has promised you. And until you lay hold of it—until it becomes a foundation of truth in your heart—you will not be able to withstand what is ahead in this wicked time.

Isaiah had a revelation of God's great delight in us. He prophesied to Israel this word from the Lord:

"O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah 43:1-2).

Isaiah was not talking about a literal flood or fire. He was talking about what the people were going through spiritually and mentally. They were in captivity at the time and their floods were trials, their fires were temptations, their rivers were testings. It was all the devil's attempt to destroy and overwhelm God's people.

Isaiah's words were a message of pure mercy to Israel. They were in captivity because of their own stupidity and foolishness and they deserved nothing. But God sent them a weeping, brokenhearted prophet who said, “God wants me to tell you that you belong to Him!”